WD1 Bracket Announcement: Maryland, Northwestern Lead Field of
26

With a perfect 19-0 record, Maryland earned the No. 1 seed in
the largest NCAA Division I women's lacrosse tournament in history.
The field expanded from 16 teams last year to 26 teams in 2013, in
response the increased number of conferences sponsoring the sport.
While the Terps are making their 29th postseason appearance, six
other teams are in the big dance for the first time. Stony Brook,
Denver, Jacksonville, High Point, Canisius and UConn will all play
their first NCAA tournament games on May 11.

"I'm so glad we're at 26, and I'm so glad we're on the inside.
It's awesome and I'm so excited for the team," Pioneers coach Liza
Kelly said.

Kelly, who is also a longtime member of the NCAA Division I
women's lacrosse committee, said the IWLCA had been pressing for
tournament expansion since she was an assistant at Towson in the
late 1990s.

"We had enough quality teams that the tournament needed to
expand. With the great expansion we've seen, especially in the
Atlantic Sun and in the Big South, and having 100 teams overall,
having a 16-team bracket just didn't make sense. Under the old
format, with that many teams, half the games would have been
play-in games," she said.

The Pioneers and the Dolphins will meet in a first-round matchup
between first-time NCAA tournament participants in Gainesville,
Fla. The winner of the game will advance to play No. 5 seed Florida
in the second round.

Under the new format, the top six seeds (in order, Maryland,
Northwestern, North Carolina, Syracuse, Florida and Georgetown) get
a first-round bye. Three teams will play at the host sites of the
top six seeds, and four teams will play at the host of the seventh
and eighth seeds. Penn State drew the No. 7 seed, and will play
MAAC champion Canisius and will host the UMass-UConn first-round
game. No. 8 Navy will play NEC champion Monmouth, and host the
Duke-Princeton matchup.

With a 26-team tournament in a field of 100 total teams, there
is much inclusion and no notable omissions. The ACC and the Big
East were the best-represented conferences (5 teams each) following
by the Ivy League and the ALC (3). The MPSF is sending two teams to
the NCAA tournament for the first time in conference history.

"I think it's exciting for both for the University of Denver and
for the MPSF," Kelly said.